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Brant News, Ont., Canada
Aug 25 2014
Brantford remembers country's first national internment camps
Brant News
By Natalie Paddon
Photo: Rev. Bogdan Mironovich stands in front of the plaque unveiled
at The Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist on Friday.
Behind him are Rev. Vartan Tashjian and Subdeacon Paul Vandervet.
One of the 100 plaques unveiled across Canada commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the start of the country's first national internment
camps and the War Measures Act.
next play/pause pre 1/2
Brantford joined a wave across Canada to mark the 100th anniversary of
a dark chapter of the country's history on Friday.
One hundred plaques commemorating the start of Canada's first national
internment camps, which operated from 1914 to 1920, were unveiled from
the east coast to the west coast starting at 11 a.m. local time.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist on Terrace Hill
Street is the home of Brantford's plaque. Others are being installed
in parish halls, cultural centres, museums and archives in venues
associated with German, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian and
Ukrainian communities.
"Let us remember the history so that it never comes back into our
lives," said Rev. Bogdan Mironovich, during the ceremony which
included both prayers and hymns. "We need to remember history, and
sometimes history isn't that pleasant."
With the support of the Canadian First World War Internment
Recognition Fund and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Foundation, the project called CTO - meaning 100 in Ukrainian - also
marked the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act. The piece of
legislation allowed the government to imprison thousands of people at
the brink of the First World War, most of them Ukrainian-born.
At least 8,000 men, women and children were imprisoned in 24
internment camps across the country during the period of 1914 to 1920.
Rev. Vartan Tashjian of the Armenian orthodox church helped Mironovich
conduct the service.
Brant MPP Dave Levac and MP Phil McColeman also both shared a few
words at Friday's gathering at St. John the Baptist.
"When we look back at this injustice...it's hard to fathom 100 years
later that this could actually happen, but it did," McColeman said.
"The government is sorry for this, and I think we've acknowledged it
with this ceremony today."
Levac said the way the country can heal from its past is by
acknowledging the injustices, saying sorry and working to bring the
community back together.
"We have made mistakes in the past, but we should be moving forward," he said.
Brantford author Marsha Skrypuch unveiled her latest book called Dance
of the Banished about a young man who was interned 100 years ago and
held a book signing after Friday's ceremony.
While Skrypuch had previously written two novels about the Ukrainian
experience of the internment, this novel is centered around Ali who
immigrated to Brantford from Eyolmez, Anatolia, in 1914.
"The thing that all people who were interned in Canada had in common
was they were all fleeing from repressive nations," she told the group
gathered for the ceremony.
Skrypuch commended the federal government for providing the Canadian
First World War Internment Recognition Fund with $10 million in 2008,
which helped to fund this project.
"What makes Canada strong is we know acknowledge injustices," she
said. "We know how to say sorry."
http://www.brantnews.com/news-story/4777821-brantford-remembers-country-s-first-national-internment-camps/
Aug 25 2014
Brantford remembers country's first national internment camps
Brant News
By Natalie Paddon
Photo: Rev. Bogdan Mironovich stands in front of the plaque unveiled
at The Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist on Friday.
Behind him are Rev. Vartan Tashjian and Subdeacon Paul Vandervet.
One of the 100 plaques unveiled across Canada commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the start of the country's first national internment
camps and the War Measures Act.
next play/pause pre 1/2
Brantford joined a wave across Canada to mark the 100th anniversary of
a dark chapter of the country's history on Friday.
One hundred plaques commemorating the start of Canada's first national
internment camps, which operated from 1914 to 1920, were unveiled from
the east coast to the west coast starting at 11 a.m. local time.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist on Terrace Hill
Street is the home of Brantford's plaque. Others are being installed
in parish halls, cultural centres, museums and archives in venues
associated with German, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian and
Ukrainian communities.
"Let us remember the history so that it never comes back into our
lives," said Rev. Bogdan Mironovich, during the ceremony which
included both prayers and hymns. "We need to remember history, and
sometimes history isn't that pleasant."
With the support of the Canadian First World War Internment
Recognition Fund and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Foundation, the project called CTO - meaning 100 in Ukrainian - also
marked the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act. The piece of
legislation allowed the government to imprison thousands of people at
the brink of the First World War, most of them Ukrainian-born.
At least 8,000 men, women and children were imprisoned in 24
internment camps across the country during the period of 1914 to 1920.
Rev. Vartan Tashjian of the Armenian orthodox church helped Mironovich
conduct the service.
Brant MPP Dave Levac and MP Phil McColeman also both shared a few
words at Friday's gathering at St. John the Baptist.
"When we look back at this injustice...it's hard to fathom 100 years
later that this could actually happen, but it did," McColeman said.
"The government is sorry for this, and I think we've acknowledged it
with this ceremony today."
Levac said the way the country can heal from its past is by
acknowledging the injustices, saying sorry and working to bring the
community back together.
"We have made mistakes in the past, but we should be moving forward," he said.
Brantford author Marsha Skrypuch unveiled her latest book called Dance
of the Banished about a young man who was interned 100 years ago and
held a book signing after Friday's ceremony.
While Skrypuch had previously written two novels about the Ukrainian
experience of the internment, this novel is centered around Ali who
immigrated to Brantford from Eyolmez, Anatolia, in 1914.
"The thing that all people who were interned in Canada had in common
was they were all fleeing from repressive nations," she told the group
gathered for the ceremony.
Skrypuch commended the federal government for providing the Canadian
First World War Internment Recognition Fund with $10 million in 2008,
which helped to fund this project.
"What makes Canada strong is we know acknowledge injustices," she
said. "We know how to say sorry."
http://www.brantnews.com/news-story/4777821-brantford-remembers-country-s-first-national-internment-camps/